THE MOVE: What’s going on with US embassy move to Israel’s capital?

Jerusalem was founded by the Jews, by King David, 3,000 years ago. It never was the capital of any other country or any other people, and it is central to the Jewish faith.

President Trump’s decision and desire to make the move official by Israel’s 70th anniversary in May, has forced a mad dash, with efforts to repurpose an already existing U.S. consulate building on this Jerusalem hillside, into a temporary embassy.

Much of the focus back in the United States has been about the moving of this embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but many of the folks we talk to here in Israel will tell you that there is a bigger, more important story to tell.

That by gaining an embassy in Jerusalem, the US could also be losing its seat at the negotiating table. Veteran Palestinian diplomat and negotiator Nabil Shaath says that era of America as a peace broker is over.

Recognition of Israel’s right to exist and to recognize that its ancient capital is still its capital ought to be the price the Palestinians must pay to earn a seat at the negotiating table.

Anything less nurtures their genocidal fantasy of driving the Jews into the sea.